This invention relates to a beam delivery system of the kind used for delivering a laser beam from a laser to a target in conjunction with and under the control of a motion delivery device such as a robot arm.
The present invention relates particularly to an improvement in an articulated joint used with such a beam delivery system, to precision bearing units associated with optical elements in such articulated joints, and to an apparatus providing movement of at least a portion of the beam delivery system to direct the outlet beam to the desired location.
This application also relates to improvements in a beam delivery system of the kind disclosed in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 577,343 filed Feb. 6, 1984 by Joseph F. Rando and Henry W. Jones and entitled "BEAM DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR A CO.sub.2 LASER" and assigned to the same assignee as the assignee of this application. The copending application Ser. No. 577,343 filed Feb. 6, 1984 is incorporated by reference in this application in accordance with the provisions of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure, Section 608.01(p)B.
The present application is directed particularly to an articulated joint for changing the direction of a light beam passing through the joint, as well as an apparatus providing movement of at least a portion of the beam delivery system to direct the outlet beam to the desired location.
In the present application the joint is illustrated and disclosed as a wrist joint component of a beam delivery system which is used to deliver a beam of laser light from a laser mounted in a fixed position to any one of a number of target locations as determined by the movement of a robot arm associated with the beam delivery system. The articulated joint of the present invention is not, however, limited to use in such a robot arm conrolled beam delivery system but can instead be used in a variety of other applications. The articulated joint of the present invention is usable in any application which requires movement of an outlet (for an outgoing beam) in any or all of three degrees of freedom of mechanical movement with respect to an inlet (for the incoming beam) and in which the entire articulated joint is also movable within a swept volume in any or all of three degrees of freedom of mechanical movement. The articulated joint of the present invention can for example be actuated and controlled by a three dimensional cam, by rotary stages and XY stages or by other mechanisms different from a robot arm.
The present invention also has particular application to a precision bearing construction usable in the wrist joint and usable also in other applications in which it is necessary to hold an optical element, such as, for example, a mirror block, in a precise location with respect to a light beam associated with the optical element.
Furthermore, the present invention has particular application to a complete apparatus which includes the articulated joint and a motion delivery device, coupled together with a connector adapted to provide relative motion between the attachment to the articulated joint and the attachment to the motion delivery device.